Dispenser outlet

ABSTRACT

A dispenser outlet including a nozzle ( 15 ) having at least partly tapering sides ( 21 ) leading to a nozzle outlet ( 23 ) at the tip to allow for accurate dispensing of material, the nozzle ( 15 ) having an opening ( 25 ) in one or more of the sides of the nozzle to assist removal of blocking material from the nozzle ( 15 ); and a sleeve ( 27 ) which in one position is able to substantially close the opening ( 25 ) but allow dispensing through the tip and which in a second position allows access to the opening ( 25 ) and to the inside of the nozzle ( 15 ) to assist removal of blocking material from the nozzle ( 15 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a dispenser outlet.

In one particularly important field of use of the invention, thedispenser outlet can be used for example with piston rod dispensers andtubes of caulking material where the piston rod forces a piston down thetube forcing expulsion of the material through an outlet in the otherend of the tube connected or fixed to a dispenser outlet. However, theinvention is not limited to use with tubes of caulking materials.

BACKGROUND ART

Most caulking materials gradually set hard upon contact with the airover a period of time. It is therefore important to keep the materialaway from the air. This is achieved by a decreasing volume dispensersuch as a piston dispenser moving a piston at one end of a tube holdingthe caulking material. At the other end of the tube is an outlet towhich a conically tapering tubular nozzle, usually of plastic, isattached by screw thread. The caulking tubes are purchased with theoutlet having a frangible seal so as to prevent the contents from beingaffected by the atmosphere prior to first use and allow the contents toremain substantially in liquid or viscous form and have a reasonablylong shelf life. Materials used are selected such that they are readilyapplied in viscous liquid form but by contact with air harden or set soas to provide the required caulking. At the end of the tube distal tothe outlet is a slidable piston.

The contents of the caulking tube are used by inserting it into acaulking gun so that the nozzle extends from one end of the gun. Thecaulking gun includes means for forcing a piston rod to move the pistonof the tube within the tube and effect expelling or excretion of thecontents of the tube out through the nozzle. A trigger mechanism isoften employed with the caulking gun which actuates a ratchet mechanismto advance the piston rod engaging the piston to force the caulkingmaterial out through the nozzle.

However the material remaining in the nozzle must be in liquid orviscous form or the nozzle outlet will become blocked. Due to the taperand single small nozzle outlet there is the benefit that the materialcan be dispensed precisely into the required position through the end ofthe nozzle. The smallness of the nozzle outlet though is alsodetrimental since it takes very little material to harden in contactwith the air in order to block the nozzle outlet. It is thereforeimportant to be able to clear a blocked nozzle.

Generally in known arrangements the nozzle is screwed onto the barreland is merely a conically tapering tubular plastic nozzle having asingle outlet at the tip of the taper. Although users undertaking small“do-it-yourself” projects may have time to disengage the nozzle, cleanit by forcing any hardened material back out the larger end of theconically tapering tubular nozzle and reattach the nozzle, professionalsusing the equipment extensively require their equipment to be alwaysuseable and to avoid contamination of the viscous material by small bitsof hardened material that may be able to be expelled through the tip oftile nozzle. Often professionals will have a number of nozzles andmerely dispose of any blocked nozzle rather than cleaning the nozzle.The professional will use a large number of nozzles without ever usingany one nozzle for its entire useful lifetime

Whether the nozzle is being cleaned or being replaced there is also alarge loss of material since the entire contents of the nozzle must bediscarded in each of these cleaning methods although only the materialat the tip of the nozzle may have hardened.

Many types of nozzles have been devised and shown in the patentliterature. However, few documents disclose apparatus that simplifycleaning and reusing of a nozzle. They include published internationalpatent no. WO 93/24030 showing an enamel applicator and doser plug inwhich a lever arm pushes a central pin down the nozzle to force liquidthrough the nozzle; patent No. JP 60-255163 showing a cylindricalstirring nozzle for a different purpose of a two component adhesive andwhich opens in half along an entire longitudinal seam for removal of allof the unused two components in the nozzle since all will have hardenedin the internal pockets of the nozzle when the two components weremixed. However the nozzle does not allow part cleaning without allowingair contact with the rest of the material in the nozzle and is verylikely to break or not properly close for reuse; and publishedAustralian patent application no. AU-A-56253/96 for a nozzle with twonozzle parts that attach end to end but is very similar to unscrewing astandard nozzle to clean.

Some published patent documents show a slit in a nozzle for particularmeans of applying a liquid in a particular way such as U.S. Pat. No.5,553,758—nozzle adaptor for applying hot melt adhesive; WO97/41968—deposition of beads of material; WO 96/404—45 article forapplying and spreading viscous material and method thereof; U.S. Pat.No. 5,059,050—dispenser for hair treatment solutions;AU-A-74044/87—pen-like dispenser for applying rust converting liquid;and WO 96/33025—silicone paint brush artist's tool.

Another group of documents disclose caps for nozzles but particularlycaps allowing variable amount of flow such as U.S. Pat. No.4,967,941—twist lock adjustable metering closure cap; and U.S. Pat. No.4,213,546—cap for the nozzle of a caulking cartridge. However none ofthese documents show a means of cleaning and reuse of the nozzle.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a dispenser outlet which iseasily and quickly cleanable so as to reduce the need for replacementnozzles and with minimal loss of useable material from the nozzle.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a dispenser outlethaving a nozzle with a nozzle outlet and an opening extending along atleast part of one or more of the sides of the nozzle to allow removal ofblocking material from the nozzle, and a sleeve fitting at leastpartially over the nozzle and which in a first position substantiallycloses the opening while allowing dispensing through the nozzle outletand which in a second position allows access to the inside of the nozzleand removal of blocking material from the nozzle.

The invention also provides a dispenser outlet including a nozzle and asleeve, the nozzle having an entry opening for receiving viscousmaterial and a nozzle outlet at a tip of the nozzle for expulsion of theviscous material, the nozzle further including elongated slits extendingfrom the nozzle outlet; the sleeve able to extend over the nozzle so asto substantially cover the slits and allow expulsion of the viscousmaterial substantially only from the nozzle outlet; wherein thedispenser outlet allows access to the cent ie of the nozzle by removalof the sleeve and resilient deformation of the slitted nozzle to allowremoval of unusable material from the nozzle substantially through theend of the nozzle having the nozzle outlet and allows normal expulsionof the viscous liquid through the nozzle outlet when the sleeve is inplace.

The invention thereby allows the dispenser outlet to be made reusable byenabling easy removal of hardened material that will first build up nextto the outlet of the nozzle. In particular, one form of the inventionallows removal of the hardened material in a direction away from theuseable material so as to not require removal of the hardened materialthrough the useable material and not risk contamination of the useablematerial by the implement used to remove the hardened material. Thedispenser outlet also provides the benefit of not requiring the loss ofall of the material in the nozzle which amounts to a substantial savingin material. However, the nozzle and sleeve combination still allows foraccurate expulsion of the material only through the outlet of thenozzle.

The opening may be adjacent the nozzle outlet at the nozzle tip and mayeven extend from the nozzle tip as a substantially longitudinal slit.The nozzle may include a pair of opposing longitudinal slits whichtogether with the flexibility and resilience of the nozzle end allowsfor the tapering sides to be flexibly opened like a pair of jaws toallow for easy removal of blocking material from the end of the tip.

The sleeve may vary according to the size or shape of the opening andmay be fully removable from the nozzle or remain mounted on the nozzlebut moved from a first to a second position such that in the firstposition the opening is closed and in the second position the opening isaccessible.

In one form the sleeve can be removably mounted on the nozzle by thesleeve having open ends and complementary sides to an end part of thenozzle adjacent the nozzle outlet. The sleeve may include a coveringpart which closes the opening of the nozzle to minimise the airhardening of the material in the end of the nozzle. The sleeve may be asimilar shape to the tapered sides of the nozzle and have complementarymounting portions at the end away from the open end of the sleevecorresponding with the outlet of the nozzle, so as to engagedly hold thesleeve on the nozzle.

Alternatively, the sleeve may have one or more flaps which arepositioned on the nozzle adjacent the outlet in the nozzle by beingfixedly attached, such as hinges attached to the nozzle sides, ormovable or removable from the nozzle. The flaps may comprise coveringportions on a fixed sleeve structure which is rotatable or otherwisemovably mountable on the nozzle and may remain mounted on the nozzle inthe first or second position. The slidable or rotatable or otherconstruction allows for movement from the first to the second positionso as to close the opening of the nozzle while allowing access to theopening of the nozzle. The flaps may be resilient flaps which pushtowards the openings so as to counteract the tapering of the sides andprovide a closing fit of the openings on the side of the nozzle. Thesleeve structure may have a similar shape to the tapering sides of thenozzle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order that the invention is more readily understood a particularembodiment thereof will now be described by way of example only withreference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dispensing cylinder with a firstembodiment of a nozzle of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the nozzle of FIG. 1 without thesleeve;

FIG. 2A is a schematic side view of an alternate hinged embodiment,shown in a closed position;

FIG. 2B is a schematic side view of an alternate hinged embodiment,shown in an open position;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the nozzle with sleeve of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is side view of tile sleeve of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side cut away view of the nozzle only of FIG. 1.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings there is shown a dispenser outlet including anozzle 15 which is attachable to an outlet end 12 of a cylindrical tube11 containing a settable viscous material. The cylindrical tube 11 isable to be mounted within a dispensing gun 14 having first annular endpiece 16 for receiving and holding the outlet end 12 of tile cylindricaltube 11 while allowing the nozzle 15 to protrude therethrough and havinga second annular end 17 of a similar size and coaxially fixed at adistance from the first annular end 15 so as to be able to receive theother end of the cylindrical tube 11. The other end of the cylindricaltube 11 includes a piston (not shown) which is able to be pushed throughthe cylindrical tube 11 to decrease the volume of the tube and force thesettable viscous material out of the nozzle 15. The piston is pushed bya piston rod 19 of the dispensing gun 14 connected by a ratchetmechanism to a trigger 20 and handle 18 of the dispensing gun 14 suchthat gripping and compressing of the trigger 20 relative to the handle18 forces the piston rod 19 to force the piston through the cylindricaltube 11 and dispense the viscous material out through the nozzle 15.

The nozzle 15 of the invention is tubular with an end part adjacent thenozzle outlet 23 having conically tapering sides 21. The entry openingof the nozzle 15 has a screw thread 22 to allow ready attachment to tileoutlet 12 of a cylindrical tube 11. The nozzle 15 further includes apair of openings in the sides of the nozzle including opposinglongitudinal slits 25 extending from the nozzle outlet 23 of the nozzle15 substantially along a bisecting plane of the nozzle 15 towards thescrew threaded end 22. The longitudinal slits 25 have dimensions inaccordance with the resilient material of the nozzle 15 so as to allowflexibility of the end of the nozzle 15 near tile nozzle outlet 23 andact as a pair of openable jaws allowing hardened material of the viscoussettable material to be removed from the end of the nozzle 15 andthereby unblock the nozzle 15. Alternatively the openings 25 may besized to merely allow for the hardened material to be removed by hand orby a tool inserted through the openings 25.

To allow dispensing the viscous settable material from the cylindricaltube 11, the dispenser outlet has a sleeve 27 with a similarcorresponding shape to the end part of the nozzle 15 but withoutlongitudinal slits 25 and having complementary conically tapering sides28 leading from a first larger open end 29 to a second smaller open end30 a the end of the taper. In use the sleeve 27 is mounted on the nozzlein first relative position with the sides 28 of the sleeve 27 coveringor closing the longitudinal slits 25 of the nozzle 15 so as to preventdispensing of the material through the longitudinal slits 25 andretaining the structure of the nozzle 15 and the second open end 30 ofthe sleeve 27 keeps the nozzle outlet 23 clear thereby allowingdispensing of material only through the nozzle outlet 23. In this wayaccurate dispensing through the nozzle outlet 23 is achieved.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show an alternate embodiment wherein nozzle (15) has atleast one hinge (40) extending orthogonal to the longitudinallyextending slit (25), allowing each side (45) of nozzle (15) to dedeflected to allow access to the inside of the nozzle (15).

The dispenser outlet in one form as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 comprisesnozzle 15 having at one end the screw threaded end 22 and the other endnozzle outlet 23 at the end of the tapered side 21 include away from thetapered ends complementary engaging parts 35A, 35B in the form of abayonet fitting having a protrusion 35B on the nozzle that fits in anL-shaped groove 35A on the sleeve 27 and by reason of the taper of thenozzle 15 and sleeve 27 are removably retained in position Alternativelythe sleeve 27 can include intermediate thereof substantially cylindricalsides having ribbings radiating therefrom between the screw threaded end22 partially along the cylindrical side. The parallel cylindrical sideswould be able to engage part of the tapered sides 21 of the nozzle 15 soas to hold the sleeve 27 in position. However, other means may be usedsuch as interlocking protuberances on the inside of the sleeve 28 nearthe open end 29 fitting into grooves in the tapered sides 21 of thenozzle 15 or vice versa.

It should be evident from the description hereinabove that the presentinvention provides an improved dispenser outlet which avoids most if notall disadvantages of the prior art. Of course many modifications to theabove described embodiment may be readily envisaged by persons skilledin the art. For example, the longitudinal slits need not be linear oropposing each other but merely openings allowing access to the inside bythe flexibility of the end of the nozzle or allowing material to bepushed out of the opening by an implement extending through the nozzleoutlet 23. Further, the sleeve need not be corresponding shape to thenozzle but merely in one position prevent dispensing material throughthe longitudinal slit. Many different ways of attaching the sleeve tothe nozzle can be used and it is possible that the sleeve comprises sideflaps integral to the nozzle which are hinged connected to the nozzle toprevent escaping material through longitudinal slits. Alternatively thesleeve is rotatable and includes openings that align with the openingsof the nozzle to allow access to the inside of the nozzle.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dispenser outlet comprising: a nozzle (15) witha nozzle outlet (23) and at least one longitudinally extending openingslit (25) extending from said nozzle outlet (23) along at least part ofat least one of respective sides of said nozzle (15) to allow removal ofblocking material from said nozzle (15); and a sleeve (27) fitting atleast partially over said nozzle (15), said sleeve (27) having an opendispensing end (30) and which said sleeve (27) in a first positionsubstantially closes said opening slit (25), while retaining said nozzleoutlet (23) open (25), said open dispensing end (30) of said sleeve (27)having a diameter substantially equal to that of an end diameter of saidnozzle outlet (23) and not extending beyond the nozzle outlet; whereinsaid nozzle outlet (23) and said open dispensing end (30) of said sleeve(27) are in positional register, while allowing dispensing through saidnozzle outlet (23) and which said sleeve (27) in a second positionallows access to an inside of said nozzle (15) and removal of blockingmaterial from said nozzle (15); said sleeve (27) forming a barrierpreventing unwanted lateral extrusion of material being dispensed, thusforcing dispensed material to issue from said respective openings (30)and (23) of both said sleeve (27) and the nozzle (15); wherein furtherduring dispensing use said nozzle (15) is substantially contained withinsaid sleeve (27).
 2. A dispenser outlet as claimed in claim 1 wherein atleast part of said nozzle (15) is formed from resilient material toallow bending of said nozzle (15) adjacent said at least one slit (25).3. A dispenser outlet as claimed in claim 1 having two longitudinalslits (25) extending on opposite sides of said nozzle (15).
 4. Adispenser outlet as claimed in claim 3 further including a hingeextending orthogonal to said longitudinal slits (25) to allow at leastone side of said nozzle (15) between said longitudinal slits (25) to bedeflected to allow access to said inside of said nozzle (15).
 5. Adispenser outlet as claimed in claim 1 wherein said nozzle (15)comprises a single linear bore able to direct material from a reservoirof material to said nozzle outlet (23).
 6. A dispenser outlet as claimedin claim 5 wherein at least part of said nozzle (15) has a symmetricallytapering form extending to said nozzle outlet (23).
 7. A dispenseroutlet as claimed in claim 1 wherein said nozzle (15) has asubstantially conically tapering end part extending to said nozzleoutlet (23) and said sleeve (27) has a complementary tapering formallowing for close fitting over said tapering end part of said nozzle(15) and which said sleeve (27) in said first position substantiallycloses said longitudinal slits (25) while allowing dispensing throughsaid nozzle outlet (23).
 8. A dispenser outlet as claimed in claim 1wherein said opening (25) is sized to allow ready removal of blockingmaterial from said nozzle (15) and said sleeve (27) has side panelswhich are sized and positioned to be able to close said opening (25) ofsaid nozzle (15) when in said first position but allow access to saidopening (25) when in said second position.
 9. A dispenser outlet asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said sleeve (27) is open ended at both endssuch that said sleeve (27) is removably attached to said nozzle (15) andin said first position when mounted on said nozzle (15) substantiallycloses said opening (25) while allowing dispensing through said nozzleoutlet (23).
 10. A dispenser outlet as claimed in claim 9 wherein saidsleeve (27) is attached to said nozzle (15) by complementary engagingparts on said nozzle (15) and said sleeve.
 11. A dispenser outlet asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said sleeve (27) remains mounted on saidnozzle (15) but said sleeve (15) moves relative to said nozzle (15)between said first and second positions.
 12. A dispenser outlet asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said dispenser outlet is removably attachableto a cylindrical tube (11) containing settable viscous material.
 13. Adispenser outlet as claimed in claim 1 wherein said dispenser outlet isintegral with a cylindrical tube (11) containing settable viscousmaterial.